Want discussions and dialogue, say Mallika Srinivasan and Lakshmi Venu even as caveats fly

The feud within the Venu Srinivasan family has taken a legal turn after family members filed caveats in Chennai courts. The caveats were filed to ensure that no orders were passed before they were heard in proceedings relating to the family dispute.

A total of eight caveats were filed in two Chennai courts by TVS Motor Co. chairman-emeritus Venu Srinivasan, son Sudarshan Venu, wife Mallika Srinivasan, and daughter Lakshmi Venu, according to reports. “As stated earlier in their joint statement, Dr. Lakshmi Venu and Mallika Srinivasan reiterate their desire for an amicable resolution through transparent discussions and dialogue,” a statement from Lakshmi Venu and Mallika Srinivasan said.

The Venu Srinivasan family has been in the midst of a public feud after Lakshmi Venu and her mother, Mallika Srinivasan, questioned the ownership and division of wealth. The duo has maintained that a fair recognition of rightful economic ownership remains unresolved.

“We have consistently sought an amicable resolution through family dialogue and have refrained from discussing private family matters publicly,” Mallika and Lakshmi said in a statement this month. “However, given the narrative now being presented, we believe it is necessary to clarify certain fundamental facts.”

In their statement, the duo had said that no economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family. “The larger TVS family partition, agreed in 2020 and implemented subsequently, was undertaken through a process involving the relevant stakeholders,” the duo had said. “No comparable process involving transparent valuation, discussion and mutual consent has taken place concerning the economic interests within the Venu Srinivasan family. No agreement dividing these economic interests has been concluded.”

In 2020, the four branches of the TVS Group agreed to split holding structures to eliminate cross-holdings and align corporate ownership directly with the family branches that manage them. The family reached this through a December 10, 2020, agreement following a valuation and settlement process. “The suggestion that all family assets belong exclusively to one individual, who is therefore free to distribute them unilaterally, is neither an agreed nor an established position,” Mallika and Lakshmi had said.

At the centre of the feud were concerns that the businesses entrusted to the children as part of the succession plan would form the basis of the wealth division. If so, Sudarshan Venu, who looks after TVS Motor, will inherit a significantly larger share, as the automaker has a staggering market value of ₹1.86 lakh crore.

“Management responsibilities must not be confused with economic ownership,” the duo had stated publicly. “The allocation of leadership roles or opportunities to manage businesses does not constitute a division of family assets, nor can it substitute for the rightful economic interests of family members. Similarly, arrangements concerning trademarks, brand usage and non-compete obligations cannot be represented as an economic settlement when no such settlement formed part of those arrangements.”

Currently, Sudarshan Venu oversees TVS Motors, while Lakshmi Venu is Managing Director of TVS Holdings Limited (formerly Sundaram-Clayton Limited), a position she has held since 2022 after previously serving as its Joint Managing Director. Venu is also Vice Chairman at TAFE. TAFE is India’s second-largest tractor maker, founded in 1960 by her maternal grandfather as a joint venture between Massey Ferguson (part of the AGCO Group) and the Chennai-based Amalgamations Group.

The family feud comes at a time when Venu Srinivasan finds himself at the centre of the ongoing Tata Sons crisis, challenging Noel Tata, chairman of the Tata Trusts.